Car plows into Tenafly CVS; middle school students injured

TENAFLY — Four Tenafly Middle School students were hospitalized Friday afternoon after they were struck by a silver Lexus SUV outside the CVS store on Washington Street, authorities said.

The driver of the SUV apparently lost control of the car as she attempted to back into a curbside space outside the store, at 17 Washington Street, around 4:30 p.m. Friday, said Sgt. Dave Epstein of the Tenafly police. The car jumped the curb, striking four girls who were sitting on the sidewalk outside the store entrance, Epstein said.

The girls — all of whom are in the seventh grade at Tenafly Middle School, according to witnesses — were taken to Hackensack University Medical Center. Epstein said two of the girls suffered moderate injuries. The injuries to the other two were described as minor.

The driver of the SUV was taken to Englewood Hospital and Medical Center for observation, Epstein said. She was not thought to be seriously injured. No summonses were immediately issued to the woman, whose name was not made public Friday, but Epstein said authorities would continue to investigate the incident.

Alison Teicher of Tenafly said the area just outside the CVS store is a popular after-school hangout for students at nearby Tenafly Middle School, particularly on warm, sunny Friday afternoons.

“On Fridays, if it’s a nice day, all of the kids like to hang out,” she said. “God forbid, this could have been any one of our kids.”

Teicher’s son, Jeffrey, a sixth grade student at the school, witnessed the accident on Friday.

“She was going pretty fast when she jumped the curb,” he said.

Police had yet to tow the SUV from the scene at 7 p.m. Friday, as they continued to divert traffic away from Washington Street between West Railroad Avenue and South Summit Street.

Staff Writer William Lamb contributed to this article. E-mail: sudol@northjersey.com and ax@northjersey.com